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This material is retained from Web Team Adelaide's earlier website so existing links still lead to their original subject.
I acquired the business on 1 July 2024.
The historical wording, contributors, offers and platform guidance below describe their original period.
My current services are website design, SEO, Google Ads, branding and graphic design for Adelaide businesses.
Read the ownership history or ask me about your current project.
Original page content
Have you ever received a bill shock from your Web Developer when you asked for a simple update?
This can be more common than you think, and not because you are being taken advantage of but because sometimes what is involved in a 'simple' work request can be either not so simple or perhaps simple but time-consuming.
On the flip side, you may avoid getting updates done because you think it will take a lot of time (and it may take 5 minutes!)
So what can you do about it?
1. Have a standing agreement.
It can be counterproductive to get a quote for every single bit of work you send through, so a good idea is to have a standing agreement. This could be something like 'if it takes up to an hour, just go ahead and do it, if not - then please quote or get back to me'.
2. Understand the difference between adding / updating content vs asking for new functionality
Recently, we were asked to put up a blog and the content for the blog was completely provided to us. The particular website we were putting the blog into had not had its blog module set up or customised, so the task involved doing this first and only then adding the blog article.
Future blog updates could now be made quickly and easily.
Another example is getting an opt-in to a newsletter on your website set up. The initial setup for this can take some time - setting up the email software account, creating an email template, and setting up the integration between your email software and your website and a whole lot of other things.
Once set up, an automated welcome and email sequence can be created meaning that it will keep working for you with no further input on your part.
3. Ask for a template
A good idea when providing content updates is to ask for a document/template from your web developer/designer so you know exactly what information you need to provide when sending through particular updates.
This means they have all the information up front, and it will save many emails going backwards and forwards asking for information.
For example for a blog, the blog template may include a heading, main image (and the required image dimensions), short description, category, and the main content of the actual blog post.
A product template may include the name of the product, pricing, variation & their cost, images (and required dimensions), shipping considerations, product description, faqs (for that product)
If you are updating many products - then a spreadsheet may be a good idea.
4. Find out what you can do so the updates take less time
Just like the accountant who receives a shoe box full of receipts at the end of the financial year, sometimes web developers receive the equivalent of a 'shoebox' of content such as a link to hundreds of photos. These then need to be understood, sorted, named, edited, and so on.
The more concise and clear the content you send through is, the less time it will take (and less cost for you).
5. Understand that your web developer is not your product or service specialist
You may think that because your web designer/developer has developed your website, they have a really good understanding about the details of your business and updates that you send through.
While this may be the case if you are in regular contact with your agency, keep in mind that something which is obvious to you is often not obvious to someone who is not in your business, so the tip here is simply to take this into account and help reduce this knowledge gap when sending through some specific product or service information.
6. Learn how to update your website yourself
You may decide, that some things are worth mastering yourself. This is a great way of saving money and if it is something you will need to do regularly then investing in learning how to do things is a really good option.
Make sure that the training you get keeps your design looking professional. There is more than 'meets the eye' so ask your developer to check you work when you are still learning.
Of course, you may know that you could learn, but really don't want to! Or don't have time to. And that is where applying all the other tips here will help keep those updating costs down.